When USA Track & Field officials decided to disqualify Andrew Bumbalough from the 3000-meter race at February's USA Indoor Championships, Bumbalough was left in the dark until a teammate informed him of the decision long after the race had ended.

"USATF has not contacted me at all during the entire period since the championships in Albuquerque, which I actually found disappointing," Bumbalough told Runner's World Newswire via email. "It would have been nice to receive a call or email updating me on what was going on [after the race], and an apology once the working group identified that the officials had made a clear mistake."

The lack of communication hints at larger issues Bumbalough has with USATF, even after the report confirmed his disqualification resulted from an official mistaking Bumbalough for the runner, Ryan Hill, who made contact with eventual runner-up Galen Rupp.

Specifically, Bumbalough called for USATF to take "a serious internal look" at how the organization handles rulings. "For this to happen, a more open line of communication needs to be in place where decision making is transparent, rules are followed, and official apologies are made when errors occur," Bumbalough said.

At the top of his list: "Officials should not be able to make calls behind closed doors without all of the parties at least aware of what is going on."

Bumbalough also recommended that any official video of an infraction be made available to the athlete-in-question's coach and/or agent and the public, and that "an unbiased representative sit in on deliberations to ensure proper procedure is followed."

The key, he said, is that USATF needs to follow its rules consistently.

"Hopefully, this will create a fair environment for all athletes and not show favoritism to specific athletes or training groups," Bumbalough said.

Bumbalough emphasized that he's speaking out not to "bash" USATF, but to use his situation to help improve the organization for the future and eventually restore the faith he says fellow elites have since lost in USATF.

"What happened in Albuquerque was terribly unfortunate," he said. "The way USATF chose to handle it afterwards was worse. Remaining silent for months and not addressing the issue only created more controversy. How many times have we seen USATF break their own rules and remain silent? I only mean to be critical so that a constructive solution might emerge from this situation."

Though he won't fight the decision, Bumbalough said, "I will remain vocal on what I feel like the problems are and how we can work together to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."

To read the full report, go here. USATF's official video of the race is available here. (The mix-up in question happens just after the 5:30 mark.)